After Beauty And The Beast which mesmerized the audience, Disney India has brought its next Broadway-style musical, Disney’s Aladdin. With multi talented actors from across India, stunning sets and breathtaking performances, the musical is set to premiere in April 2018 at NCPA Mumbai. Disney’s Broadway Style musical Aladdin will surely take you to the city of Agrabah and would slay you along with the adventures of Aladdin.

BookMyShow is the producer with exclusive rights for the Indian production of this Disney and with this BookMyShow Co-Founder and CEO Ashish Hemrajani shares, “Bringing a theatrical musical Broadway style event like Aladdin to the audiences has been to be able to curate a talent it does take time, the singing, the amount and number of hours in the making and blocking people from not doing other work while they are doing this. While there are no re-takes and this has turned out to be brilliant. We are excited to produce the Indian stage version of Disney’s Aladdin. It promises to be an extravagant visual feast, filled with music, joy, and loads of theatrical magic.” Ashish Hemrajani further gives information beyond this. 

How would you describe your association with Disney?

We have been working with Disney for a long time. The association comes across through movies and marketing activities on our website. This then culminated into something that we produced with Disney, Beauty And The Beast. It was a natural kprogression for us.

Marketing of Disney’s Aladdin?

Firstly, we will relay out some press releases on both online and offline publications. Second, our website, BookMyShow itself inspires over 100 million page views every month. Using our high user reach we will push the show on all our platforms (mobile, web and social). Third, the Disney brand name enjoys a large audience in the country. That along with its unique Broadway feature should attract a healthy audience. We will also be using the popular mediums of traditional marketing – Outdoor, Print and Radio. Using the popularity of social media marketing, we will try creating some buzz around the show.

The ticket price for Disney India’s Aladdin starts at 750 per head. What factors were taken into consideration when deciding the price?

We have been working in the industry since more than a decade. This has helped us store a large amount of customer data. Through data mining and data analysis of our large volume of data, we were able to set our prices. It’s all a part of data science. Even the choice of markets that is Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad was through our research. We will evolve and take it to other markets as such when the conditions meet our requirements. In relation to the show, there would be a weekday pricing and weekend pricing. There would be one or two shows a day. We will extend shows as we go along.

How did you manage to get PayPal on-board?

For strategic importance, we decided to get PayPal on board. We generate our revenue primarily through ticket sales and PayPal being the largest payment platform in the world will be a great source of strength for our business.

What are the challenges you face?

The infrastructure existing in India is a key challenge, we hope to see improvements in the coming years. The second challenge is working within the framework that exists today. Currently, we have some great venues like NCPA in Mumbai, similarly we have a venue in Delhi and Hyderabad. The final challenge is finding the right talent. This is an issue you will face in any industry.

Disney’s Aladdin is not the first show you have produced. How has your experience been producing shows overall?

We have been working with shows and concerts for over 20 years. In those 20 years, we didn’t only manage the ticket sales but also took active participation in the on ground operation of certain events. Through our experience and observation, we have extensively learned how a customer behaves in the environment surrounding an event/movie/concert. How is the customer flow in and around the event? How does the customer engage with toilets? How and where does the customer eat his food? What are the things or activities that would go on in a show? So for us to actually bring a Broadway style musical which is re-imagined for the Indian audience is an opportunity. 

Do you think there is an audience for such ‘Live’ art beyond metro cities?

Do you know which is the most watched form of entertainment in the country except television? They are live theatrical shows. This show is also a live theatrical. If you say this form of entertainment doesn’t exist in India, then that statement is wrong. It does exist and is very popular in India. Today if you go to any village, you will see a live theatrical and people enjoying watching it. Just because this theatrical is performed on the stage with a sound system does not mean it is any different. It is the same theatrical produced in a different format.

How many shows have you planned?

We will open with 13 shows to begin in Bombay that is what we are aiming for and then we will go ahead. First show would be held on 20 April.